Sumlin, Stoops to match wits in Cotton Bowl

Updated 1:52 am, Thursday, December 20, 2012

Kevin Sumlin has led the Aggies to a 10-2 record in his first season as A&M’s coach behind Heisman QB Johnny Manziel.

Kevin Sumlin has led the Aggies to a 10-2 record in his first season as A&M’s coach behind Heisman QB Johnny Manziel.

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Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops goes way back with his A&M counterpart, “chasing the same kids.”

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops goes way back with his A&M counterpart, “chasing the same kids.”

Photo: Tony Gutierrez, Associated Press

Sumlin, Stoops to match wits in Cotton Bowl

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COLLEGE STATION — Ten years ago, Kevin Sumlin made a lasting impression on Bob Stoops over a three-hour span, when Oklahoma played at Texas A&M. Six games prior, A&M coach R.C. Slocum had promoted Sumlin to offensive coordinator, and the immediate results were impressive for the once-stagnant Aggies.

None more so than on Nov. 9, 2002, when Sumlin's offense, directed by electric freshman quarterback Reggie McNeal, toppled top-ranked OU 30-26 at Kyle Field. Three months later, Sumlin was on Stoops' staff, following Slocum's dismissal by A&M president Robert Gates at the conclusion of a 6-6 season.

But that fateful day wasn't Stoops' first impression of the future A&M head coach.

“I had great respect for Kevin before he was the offensive coordinator when the Aggies beat us,” Stoops said Wednesday. “Heck, Kevin and I used to run around South Florida together recruiting when he was at Purdue and I was at Kansas State. We were chasing the same kids all the time.”

On Jan. 4, Sumlin's kids — a.k.a. players — will be chasing Stoops' kids in the Cotton Bowl, and vice versa, in the first on-field collision of the mentor and one-time protégé and still close friends.

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“Besides the national championship, as far as exciting matchups for bowl games, I'd put ours up there with anybody's,” Sumlin said.

Fans agree, because Cotton Bowl president Rick Baker said Wednesday the contest that falls on a Friday night has been the toughest ticket he's come across in his more than 20-year association with the bowl.

“There are a lot of storylines, with two great programs and two terrific coaches,” Baker said.

When the Cotton Bowl was announced Dec. 2, Sumlin, 48, said his first reaction was, “Aaawww” — but then he quickly got over the idea of facing Stoops, 52.

“You never really like in this profession playing really good friends,” Sumlin said. “It's awkward at first, then you try to beat the hell out of each other. That's just the way it works.”

A month after Slocum's firing a decade ago, Colorado coach Gary Barnett brought Sumlin onboard as receivers coach. But the Sumlin clan didn't have time to unpack its bags in Boulder, Colo., before Stoops reached out to Sumlin for the Sooners' tight ends and special-teams gig.

Three years later, Sumlin was promoted to co-offensive coordinator, and following the 2007 season, he earned his first head-coaching opportunity at Houston. Stoops has won eight Big 12 titles and a national title in 2000. His teams played for three more, including with Sumlin on staff in 2003 and 2004 (losses to LSU and USC, respectively).

“Kevin is incredibly bright in everything that he does,” Stoops said. “He relates well with his players, he's an excellent recruiter — all the things you want. He was great here, and he's doing a great job (at A&M).”

Sumlin was 35-17 over four seasons at UH before the Aggies hired him to breathe life into a program that had hovered around .500 over the past decade under Dennis Franchione and Mike Sherman.

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The 10-2 Aggies responded in his first season with double-digit wins for the first time since 1998, and their first Heisman Trophy winner, freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel of Kerrville Tivy, since John David Crow in 1957.

“The winning culture that Bob has created at Oklahoma is something you have to be inside of to really see, understand and feel how it works,” Sumlin said of Stoops' influence on his career. “It's how you do things on an everyday basis, the expectation level you have with the players and the program, how you treat people ... our families were involved.

“A lot of people have come here and said we do things a lot alike, and I wouldn't doubt it. And that's a compliment.”